Explosion at Vape Blast
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There has been a detailed discussion of safety above.
The arguments that can be made for or against integral safety features are legion. However it might be worth keeping in mind that unlimited personal freedom equals the freedom to injure yourself and others, and the freedom to contribute to a media frenzy about banning something that could survive to benefit many others without the influence of the uneducated, stupid or the insane. In this case we might perhaps look at safety features more charitably: if a number of people blow themselves and others up, a situation might arise where the activity itself comes under threat due to their actions.
This isn't a theoretical issue because we've seen it all before in the first mechmod era, 2010 - 2011, before they died out for a couple of years, killed off temporarily by VV and VW (as there were no RBAs at that time).
There were a significant number of mechmod explosions and rocket fails (eight were posted on ECF, together with about the same number heard of through third parties), only one of which was picked up by the press. That single incident caused so many problems that it is obvious that if the press had known of the other dozen or more, vaping itself would have come under intense pressure. For example the single incident that the media knew of was used on a State Senate floor in an attempt to ban vaping in that State.
That's just one incident.
Consumer products need to be safe to use for those without knowledge of possible risks, and even for the stupid and the semi-insane. If not, that product will come under threat of a ban - despite millions of others using it responsibly.
It's as simple as that.
Issues such as personal responsibility are fine, when discussing who exactly is responsible. Maybe perhaps when debating who will pay when your face / eyesight is injured. But when the result of misuse or accidents is a ban on vaping or a specific type of device, and it's easy to build in safety features (or just simply design and build the thing half-right in the first place), then in all honesty there is no room for debate: mechmods need to have safety features; or at the very least, not have significant design flaws.
People should perhaps ask themselves: "What if this VapeBlast incident becomes common?", as that is beginning to look a possibility with the way things are going. The question of injuries to the user (or bystanders) isn't the most important in a climate where immensely powerful commercial interests are doing everything they can to shut vaping down.
[edit to add]
This was all discussed at length before, in the first mechmod era when fires in use, explosions and injuries were becoming more common. A very powerful argument was used to speak for total design freedom and no safety features or restrictions being necessary or desirable - it went like this: "This is my body. It's my choice what I do with it. It's my money and I choose how to spend it. I want to buy whatever I need/want and it is nobody else's business".
This has strong appeal to me, because I believe in ultimate freedom / minimal government.
The only problem is that this argument is completely, utterly wrong, because it is used out of context. It *will* apply if you don't go to hospital when your face/eyes get damaged; if you just ignore the injuries; if your family members all do likewise; if an incident doesn't occur in public; if no bystanders are injured or report it to the local paper; if no one takes a camera photo; if no one takes a camera video of the event and its aftermath; if no one posts the pics and vids to the web; if no one comments about it on any forum; if the fire department don't get called round to put out the fire; if the police aren't involved (as they were in some previous incidents, by the way); if the media never learn about it, ever, somehow; and if no ANTZ or politician or government agency ever uses the incident to attack vaping.
As the chances of this applying are about 1,000 million to one, and essentially impossible, someone who pushes the envelope way past any sensible point is risking our right to vape without hindrance. You're making it our business.
The arguments that can be made for or against integral safety features are legion. However it might be worth keeping in mind that unlimited personal freedom equals the freedom to injure yourself and others, and the freedom to contribute to a media frenzy about banning something that could survive to benefit many others without the influence of the uneducated, stupid or the insane. In this case we might perhaps look at safety features more charitably: if a number of people blow themselves and others up, a situation might arise where the activity itself comes under threat due to their actions.
This isn't a theoretical issue because we've seen it all before in the first mechmod era, 2010 - 2011, before they died out for a couple of years, killed off temporarily by VV and VW (as there were no RBAs at that time).
There were a significant number of mechmod explosions and rocket fails (eight were posted on ECF, together with about the same number heard of through third parties), only one of which was picked up by the press. That single incident caused so many problems that it is obvious that if the press had known of the other dozen or more, vaping itself would have come under intense pressure. For example the single incident that the media knew of was used on a State Senate floor in an attempt to ban vaping in that State.
That's just one incident.
Consumer products need to be safe to use for those without knowledge of possible risks, and even for the stupid and the semi-insane. If not, that product will come under threat of a ban - despite millions of others using it responsibly.
It's as simple as that.
Issues such as personal responsibility are fine, when discussing who exactly is responsible. Maybe perhaps when debating who will pay when your face / eyesight is injured. But when the result of misuse or accidents is a ban on vaping or a specific type of device, and it's easy to build in safety features (or just simply design and build the thing half-right in the first place), then in all honesty there is no room for debate: mechmods need to have safety features; or at the very least, not have significant design flaws.
People should perhaps ask themselves: "What if this VapeBlast incident becomes common?", as that is beginning to look a possibility with the way things are going. The question of injuries to the user (or bystanders) isn't the most important in a climate where immensely powerful commercial interests are doing everything they can to shut vaping down.
[edit to add]
This was all discussed at length before, in the first mechmod era when fires in use, explosions and injuries were becoming more common. A very powerful argument was used to speak for total design freedom and no safety features or restrictions being necessary or desirable - it went like this: "This is my body. It's my choice what I do with it. It's my money and I choose how to spend it. I want to buy whatever I need/want and it is nobody else's business".
This has strong appeal to me, because I believe in ultimate freedom / minimal government.
The only problem is that this argument is completely, utterly wrong, because it is used out of context. It *will* apply if you don't go to hospital when your face/eyes get damaged; if you just ignore the injuries; if your family members all do likewise; if an incident doesn't occur in public; if no bystanders are injured or report it to the local paper; if no one takes a camera photo; if no one takes a camera video of the event and its aftermath; if no one posts the pics and vids to the web; if no one comments about it on any forum; if the fire department don't get called round to put out the fire; if the police aren't involved (as they were in some previous incidents, by the way); if the media never learn about it, ever, somehow; and if no ANTZ or politician or government agency ever uses the incident to attack vaping.
As the chances of this applying are about 1,000 million to one, and essentially impossible, someone who pushes the envelope way past any sensible point is risking our right to vape without hindrance. You're making it our business.
Now, with 800 posts, this topic has reached the point where people are beginning to get personal.
That means it's time to say goodbye to this theme and move on...
That means it's time to say goodbye to this theme and move on...
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